Why Apple shares took a nosedive — Apple shares suffered their sharpest fall in eight years Monday morning on the word of two analysts — including one whose record predicting the company's performance is mixed at best. — By 10:30 a.m ET the stock had dropped 16%, wiping out more than $18 billion …

Always On Laptops — Road warriors, rejoice! Constantly connected laptops are finally here. — The catch: Users will have to choose between two competing technologies, WiMax and HSPA, in a match-up that could rival Betamax V. VHS. — The two technologies are poised to go head to head.

VCs (And Startups) Won't Be Immune To The Credit Crunch — So far the downward spiral of credit and financial markets seems to have left venture capital firms and startups relatively unharmed. Even though the IPO market closed completely in the second quarter (and opened again only slightly in the third) …

How start-ups can survive — In 2001, the first dot-com economy collapsed. New companies couldn't raise funds to continue operating. Existing companies couldn't go public or get bought. My employer (Red Herring) folded, as did hundreds of other businesses.

The 25 Most Influential People on the Web — Each year, we turn to readers and BusinessWeek staff for the Best of the Web list, asking them to contribute names for a list of the Internet's movers and shakers. Take a look at the slide show to see which people have the most impact on the Web these days.

What happened to Hotmail? — Last week, after receiving a “tip” from Microsoft's PR firm Waggener Edstrom, we posted on the coming rollout of a new version of Hotmail. Our readers were quick to try and catch the new version in the wild, checking out different Bay numbers like the junior sneaky geniuses we know you are.

Why Android Will Soon Kick Ass — When the T-Mobile G1 was shown off in NYC last week, it didn't have the gusto of a Stevenote. There was no “boom!”—no “one more thing!” And as a result, many (including us) felt a bit underwhelmed, and were quick to interpret the device's inconsistent GUI …

Nasty web bug descends on world's most popular sites — ING, New York Times bitten hard — Underscoring the severity of of an exotic form of website bug, security researchers from Princeton University have cataloged four cross-site request forgeries in some of the world's most popular sites.

I.B.M. Puts iPhone in the Lotus Position — Apple's push to make the iPhone a desired device among the world's largest companies should receive a boost this week thanks to I.B.M. — At long last, I.B.M. has issued software which will bring the e-mail, calendar and contacts functions handled …

Nice timing: Microsoft discloses executives raises, bonuses — The big winner this year appears to be Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner, who received the biggest bonus and salary award. — But all the top executives at Microsoft received raises and higher bonuses in fiscal 2008 than in fiscal 2007.

Google Has Gone and Redefined ‘Beta’ — The question of why so many Google products are classified “beta” — and classified thusly for so long — has knocked around the tech press for some time. However, no one really seemed to know the answer, at least no one outside of Google.

An Investigation Into Communication Between NSA and Google — A PDF file published at GovernmentAttic.org contains, according to its description, the “NSA [US National Security Agency] administrative processing file for FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] request for records on Google and contracts With Google”.

Hands on: Nero's LiquidTV, TiVo for your PC — Nero today announced LiquidTV, a combination software and hardware product that brings the entire TiVo experience out of the living room and onto Windows PCs. Offered as a mix of TiVo software and a handful of unique features …

Whole Travel launches good site at bad time — I'm not sure if this is a service I would choose to launch this week: Whole Travel is a new site, launching Tuesday, that's focused on “sustainable” or “green” travel. Given that most of us are likely to have a lot less green in the coming months, I worry about the concept.

House Web site overwhelmed as bailout bill fails — WASHINGTON - The House Web site was overwhelmed Monday as millions of computer users sought information about the financial bailout bill rejected by the House. — “We haven't seen this much demand since the 9-11 commission report” …